Election gloom for Fox News

Wednesday 30 January 2008 03.52 EST
First published on Wednesday 30 January 2008 03.52 EST

US media watcher Eric Boehlert predicts that Rupert Murdoch's controversial TV channel Fox News is in for a rough year. Among his reasons: CNN has made a comeback as "the go-to cable destination for election coverage"; Fox News has favoured Rudy Giuliani, who has made no headway in his bid for the Republican presidential candidacy; all the Democratic candidates refuse to debate on Fox; and a tasteless attack by a Fox host on actor Heath Ledger hours after he was found dead. To make matters worse for Rupert, the fledgling sister channel, Fox Business Network, has had poor ratings.